


Foolish

by LordOfVibes



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Upside Down, Barb Is Precious And We Shall Protect Her, Barbara "Barb" Holland Lives, Canon Time Period, Crushes, F/F, Flirting, High School, Lesbian Nancy Wheeler, Nancy Wheeler Loves Barbara "Barb" Holland, Pining, Steve Tries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27939854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordOfVibes/pseuds/LordOfVibes
Summary: Steve and Jonathan are fighting for Nancy's affection, but Nancy knows neither will win. Her heart already belongs to her best friend.
Relationships: Barbara "Barb" Holland/Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler (One-sided), Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington (Implied), Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler (one-sided)
Kudos: 8





	Foolish

Nancy pulled into the parking lot of Hawkins High School. She immediately looked around for Barb’s car. No sign. She caught eye of Steve’s bright red pickup. There, right next to it, was Steve, smoking a cigarette and laughing with his buddies. Nancy rolled her eyes and groaned. Great. How was she gonna move through the parking lot to inside the school without catching Steve’s attention? She pondered a plan while parking her car in the parking lot and turning off the car with her key before stepping out of the driver's seat. 

Nancy scurried along quickly, trying her best to blend into the crowd, and made her way inside the school and to her locker. As she stalled in front of her locker, trying to look as casual as possible among the other students, she exhaled a sigh of relief. No talking to Steve this morning. That’s good. 

Not even a minute later, Nancy saw Barb walk through the front door. Her eyes lit up and her heart swelled. Barb was the girl her heart belonged to. She was literally the definition of perfection. She smelled like vanilla and cherry blossoms. Her smile was contagious and bright, so bright it could light up a room. She was so pretty it almost hurt to look at her. She was smart, and fearless, and had always been by Nancy’s side. 

Nancy blinked and shook her head, shaking these thoughts and daydreams from her mind. She needed to focus. Barb walked towards her. “So, has Steve talked to you yet today?” she leaned in and giggled, keeping her voice quiet so others couldn’t hear their conversation. 

Nancy smiled and turned her head to look inside her open locker, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing. God, Barb was so adorable. All Nancy truly wanted was to kiss her and to cuddle with her and to go on dates with her. All she needed to do was ask her out. But no, Nancy decided. Heh, could you imagine? That would be foolish. It would be a real shame to ruin such an amazing friendship. “Not yet,” Nancy shook her head. “I somehow managed to sneak by without him noticing.” 

“What about Jonathan?” Barb asked, and like she was summoning him, Jonathan then walked through the door, practically buried in his hoodie. Jonathan was Nancy’s younger brother’s best friend’s older brother, and one of the men competing for her heart, along with Steve. The two pretty obviously were fighting for her affection, but neither would win, Nancy knew that. She didn’t care about how many suitors, how many men, wanted her to be his, her heart was all Barb’s. 

The two ladies turned their heads and looked at the quiet kid. When Jonathan noticed Nancy from across the hall, he quirked up into a smirk. He waved and hurried off to his own locker. 

“How do you feel?” Barb asked, and Nancy turned her head in curiousity. “About two guys clearly fighting over you, like you’re some prize to be won?” 

“Not good,” Nancy frowned, and Barb laughed. She just needed to tell them that she wasn’t interested in them, in any guys in general, and they would stop bugging her. Well, Jonathan would stop. Steve, not so sure. He was a straight-up jerk, one of the biggest in the school. Jonathan actually was a cool dude, which made the situation a little better, but not much. Yes, that’s what she needed to do. Confront them and tell them that she wasn’t interested. It would make things a whole lot better. 

Just then, the bell chimed, signaling that it was time to go to class. “Welp, better get to class!” Barb said, grabbing her books from her locker which was right next to Nancy’s. “See ya!” she waved and went off to her first class. Nancy waved back, smiling at how absolutely amazing she was. She was everything. Oh wait, she better get to class. She grabbed her own books and quickly walked to her first class of the school day. 

***

Just as Nancy got out of her last class of the day, Steve met up with her in the hallway. She internalized her groan and eye roll. “Hey Nancy,” Steve greeted, clearly trying to be charming but failing miserably. “So, what are you gonna do for the project?” 

The teacher of the last class had assigned the students a project to complete, and Steve was also in that class. “Steve, we just got assigned the project. I haven’t had any time to think about it.” 

“Oh,” Steve realized his mistake and tried to gain his footground of flirting. Oh Steve. He tried. “Um, well, if it maybe was a group project, which it totally isn’t but just imagine, I’d really like to do the project with you-” 

“Look, Steve,” the two teens had ended up at Nancy’s locker. She leaned against it to face Steve, crossing her arms. She had had enough. She finally was gonna tell him to stop. “I get what you’re trying to do. You’re flirting with me. I get that. I’m simply just not interested.” 

Steve looked confused, so Nancy continued. “Steve, I’m a lesbian.” 

The realization seemed to finally hit Steve. He nodded slowly. “Oh,” was all he said for a while, but then added onto it, “I didn’t know, I-I’ll stop flirting with you.” 

“Thank you,” Nancy said, genuinely grateful. Before Steve could walk away, Nancy grabbed his arm because she had remembered something. “Oh, before you go, can you tell Jonathan? I could tell you two were fighting over me, so I think he should know as well.” 

Steve nodded. “Okay, I’ll find him,” he started looking around, but there was no sign of him. “Well, bye!” he waved, leaving Nancy alone at her locker. 

Nancy smiled to herself before heading out of the school. That fiasco was finally over with. She could now be fully and irrevocably Barb’s. 

***

Steve caught Jonathan outside in the parking lot just about to get in his car. When he grabbed Jonathan’s arm and Jonathan turned his head, he looked confused. “Hey,” Steve greeted, letting go of Jonathan’s arm awkwardly. He really didn’t want to make this situation more awkward than it had to be. “So, I was just talking with Nancy,” he motioned with his hand behind him at the school. “And she told me to tell you something.” 

Jonathan was silent for a moment. “...okay?” he said suspiciously, very confused by the whole situation, so Steve continued. 

“Nancy told me that she knows that both of us are going for her, and she told me to tell you that she’s not interested.” 

Jonathan kept the confused expression, but now a little surprised too. “I didn’t like her like that, we never really hung out all that much,” Jonathan shook his head, clearly lying. Steve knew a liar when he heard one. 

“Dude,” Steve placed his hand on Jonathan’s shoulder. “Nancy knows everything,” he shrugged. 

Jonathan nodded in return. “Yeah, she does,” he had to agree. “So, she isn’t interested in both of us?” he pointed at Steve in front of him and then himself. 

“Yep. Said she’s a lesbian.” 

That’s the one that made Jonathan’s eyes go wide. “I wasn’t expecting that,” was all that he could say from the shock. 

“Yeah, me neither,” Steve agreed. “I bet she likes that one girl she always hangs out with. What’s her name again…” Steve snapped his fingers and closed his eyes, trying to remember. “...Marm?” 

“Barb,” Jonathan corrected. 

That sounded really familiar! “Barb!” he shouted, glad that Jonathan had reminded him. “That’s her name!” he said before checking his wristwatch. It was getting pretty late and he had to get home. “Well, I better get home. It was cool talking to you!” his eyes rose from his watch to meet Jonathan’s. 

As the two boys’ eyes met, a spark flew between them and suddenly the energy between them changed. But neither of them acted upon it as Steve scurried away to his car. Heh, could you imagine? That would be foolish.


End file.
